


Rhythm

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek, Angst, Canon Divergent, Canon-Typical Violence, Dancing, Dreams and Nightmares, Gun Violence, Hallucinations, Lydia Martin & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Monsters, Mystery, Mythology - Freeform, Nightmares, Reunions, Sterek Bingo 2017, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-19
Updated: 2017-05-19
Packaged: 2018-11-02 08:58:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10941204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: Stiles is used to nightmares, but not nightmares like these, dreams that leave him questioning what's real and what's an illusion... Lydia tries to help, but she's experiencing them too, but now that Derek's back in town- and more at peace than ever- they might just be able to make some progress here...He hopes so, anyway





	Rhythm

**Author's Note:**

> I'm actually a bit disappointed with this one, it's one of those where it feels like it should be longer but there's not really anything else specific I want to add, if that makes any sense at all, but I really hope you enjoy it anyway!

Things were dark

He kept having flashes in his mind of... God.... he wasn't sure what

Everything, nothing, he didn't know...

Just flashes, of blood, of horror, of bones and graveyard dirt and insects and...

He sat up, screaming as he jolted awake and reached out for anything- anyone- that he could grab onto

"Stiles! Stiles hey, hey you're ok, you're alright,"

He looked up, breathing a shaking breath as tears stung against his eyes, gripping onto Derek's arm like his life depended on it

"It's ok Stiles, it's ok," Derek encouraged quietly, stroking Stiles' hair and hugging him a little bit tighter

Stiles closed his eyes, swallowing tightly and squeezing into Derek's space tighter- as tightly as he could

He sucked in a breath, the images were flashing before him again and all of a sudden he couldn't feel Derek anymore, he couldn't feel anything anymore, it was just numbing, clawing, gnawing emptiness...

He let out another scream, this one even more ear-splitting and violent than the last, as he jolted awake once more

But this time....

This time he was alone

No Derek, no anyone, just...

Alone....

"D-Dad?!" he called out anxiously, voice breaking and body shaking like a leaf

"Dad....? Somebody?! _Anybody_!?"

He didn't know how much more he could take, he was on a razor's edge here, about to explode, when suddenly the door opened, and in the doorway stood....

"L-Lydia?" he sniffed

The banshee wasted no time in rushing towards him, wrapping her arms around Stiles and hugging him tightly, wich was freaking fine by him, he clung to her as tightly as he could, burying his head into her shoulder and taking a few heavy, deep breaths as he shuddered

"What... what... w-why are you here?" he croaked

"I'll tell you later, it's a long story," she said quietly, stroking her fingers calmly through his hair

Usually he would have pressed further, insisted on more information, but right now he was just...

He was just tired

So tired, _too_ tired, he couldn't press for anything at the moment

He just clung as hard as he could to the banshee, falling back into a deep, dreamless, unconsciousness

It couldn't even be called sleep really

It was just... darkness

 

~+~

 

When Stiles woke up the next morning he was alone

He didn't know if last night was a dream or if Lydia had just left, but he didn't have to think about it for too long, only a few minutes after he woke up his father was in his doorway, giving him a slightly judgemental look

"Son, you know that since you're eighteen now I can't ACTUALLY stop you from having sex, but I'd appreciate-"

"I didn't have sex Dad, I had a nightmare, Lydia was here for... actually I'm not sure what she was here for... but it wasn't THAT,"

"That's exactly what Lydia said," he noted, leaning against the doorframe

"I wasn't sure if I should believe it or not but since you aren't stuttering or freaking out I guess I should," he added a second later

"Thanks," Stiles snorted, swiping his shirt off and reaching into his dresser to get some fresh clothes

"It's a legitimate concern you know,"

"Dad, don't you think Lydia is more than a little out of my league?"

"True..." the sheriff shrugged back, heaving a sigh as the air grew more serious around them

"Son... these nightmares-"

"It's fine Dad, I'm fine,"

The sheriff looked skeptical, but he didn't argue or protest any further, he just heaved a sigh and hung his head

"Lydia is downstairs waiting for you, she made tea,"

"Thanks," he muttered back

Once his father was gone, Stiles found himself slumping down against the dresser and hanging his head

He had hoped last night had just been a bad dream, he really, really had...

 

~+~

 

"So, wanna tell me how you came to be in my house last night?"

It wasn't accusatory, just curious

"It's ... a little bit of a weird and long story," Lydia replied, taking a slow sip of her tea as Stiles brewed some coffee over at the counter

It was times like these that he was glad his father worked as much as he did, it left them a little time alone

"I have time," he shrugged back, turning towards the banshee and leaning back against the counter

"It was strange... I was having these weird nightmares and .. when I woke up I was standing outside of your house, I think I must have sleep-walked here, right after I woke up I heard you screaming so I came inside to check on you,"

"And you just happened to have my key on you?" he asked skeptically

"No, your door was unlocked,"

That gave Stiles pause, a deep frown coming to rest over his lips

"No... no it couldn't have been, I lock that door every night, I know I do,"

"Maybe you forgot?"

"No I DISTINCTLY remember locking it last night, I remember because I came down later than usual to get something and I double-checked,"

Lydia frowned sadly, and it looked dangerously close to being sympathetic, like she was pitying him or something

"I swear to God Lydia... I swear to God I locked that door,"

"I believe you," Lydia said softly, though Stiles questioned now if _he_ believed _her_

The coffee finished, Stiles turned and grabbed a mug from the top cabinet before turning the coffee maker off and pulling the pot loose

"So.... what were your dreams about? Do you remember?" he asked quietly

Lydia hung her head, eyes downcast as she gave her head a slight shake

"No... just... I don't know, flashes? If that makes sense? What about you?"

"Just flashes, I know exactly what you mean," Stiles agreed with a sigh, pouring some milk and sugar into his coffee and stirring it lazily

"Do you think it's anything to worry about?"

"Considering we had similar dreams on the same night and you were sleepwalking?"

Things were silent for barely a second before Lydia conceded to that

"You're right, we should DEFINITELY be worried,"

 

~+~

 

There wasn't much they could do, with almost nothing to go on

They couldn't remember anything specific about the dreams and there didn't seem to be anything else out of the ordinary happening, so it wasn't as if there was much that they could research

In the end, half-way into the afternoon, they decided all they could do was wait and see what happened, see if they could get something concrete

That night Stiles had nightmares again, much the same as the ones from the night before

This time though, he didn't wake up to Lydia in his doorway, he woke up to someone much different

"Stiles!! Stiles it's ok, it's ok, it's just me, calm down!"

Among labored breaths and screams, Stiles recognized the voice speaking to him, blinking through his teary eyes and staring in shock at the person staring down at him

_"D-Derek...?"_

Derek let out a breath, shoulders sagging as he reached up to carefully wipe a tear from Stiles' cheek

"Hi Stiles,"

 

~+~

 

"So, what the hell?"

"I was waiting on that," Derek sighed

After seeing Derek's face for the first time in just over a year now, Stiles had found it completely impossible to go back to sleep

So he had convinced Derek to come downstairs with him and have some coffee wile they caught up, so far Stiles had told Derek everything that had been going on in Beacon Hills- from Theo all the way down to the nightmares- and now that he had finished pouring his heart out, he fully expected Derek to do the same

"I guess... first things first," he said slowly, sucking in a breath as he allowed his eyes to glow....

To glow _red_

Bright red...

"You're an Alpha again," Stiles breathed in amazement, pulling the blankets he was wrapped in a little bit tighter around his shoulders

"I am," Derek said with a slow nod

"What... how...?"

"After Braeden and I split up to look for the Desert Wolf I ended up in Montana, to make a long story short I ran into an Alpha there who didn't exactly appreciate my being around, I tried to just leave in peace but..."

"Let me guess, he wouldn't have it?"

"Exactly, I'm not really sure why but..."

"You killed him in self defense?"

Derek's eyes flicked down, pulling his legs onto the couch and reaching for his coffee

"Derek... it's ok, it wasn't your fault, you were just defending yourself,"

"I guess," Derek said with a loud sigh, taking a sip of his drink

"So uh... you're an Alpha again.... got any betas?"

Derek smiled softly, fondly, and Stiles immediately knew the answer

"Three, but um... not like last time, it's a long story but basically... I wasn't going to this time, I wanted to ignore the urges, but after about four months I met an Omega who needed a pack, she got attached to me for some reason and it just... happened, the second was much the same way, and the third... admittedly, I did bite the third, but only because she was dieing and Sophie- my first beta- begged me to atleast try so... I tried, but I'm doing things differently now- ALOT differently, things are... better, than they were the first time, and I'm open to everything, to.. having people around me, having a real pack, to whatever comes my way,"

"Sounds like it, jeez, no wonder you never came back to Beacon Hills..."

"We live in Santa Clara right now, I didn't want to stay completely away from here in case you guys ever needed help but I didn't want to bring them here either, I didn't want to stir up anything, you know?"

"And it's good that you didn't, really, I'm glad you and your pack stayed away from this Hellmouth, but ... where are they now?"

"Still in Santa Clara, I told them to stay there and that I'd be back before too long,"

"Wow, and they listened to you?"

"Amazing isn't it?" Derek smirked dryly

"It really is," Stiles snorted, deciding to bite the bullet and spend a few moments out of his blanket nest in order to grab his own cup of coffee off of the table

"So ... why are you here? I mean... what brought you back?"

"I knew something was wrong," Derek said simply, and almost too vaguely

"I don't know, I can't explain it, I just... I KNEW that there was something wrong and that I needed to come and help,"

"Wow, that's... if you knew this time and didn't know the other two, then that's ... that can't be good, can it?"

"Maybe, maybe not, maybe I'm just better at intuition all of a sudden,"

"Maybe," Stiles muttered quietly, taking a sip of his coffee before slowly setting it back on the coffee table, eyes flicking up towards the werewolf

"I missed you you know,"

Derek's smile turned soft, understanding, and he moved just half an inch closer

"I missed you too,"

 

~+~

 

"So, tell me again WHY you haven't told Scott and the others about this yet?"

"So far there's nothing to tell, we're having nightmares but we can't remember what they're about," Lydia explained with a slight sigh

Stiles had insisted that Derek stay the night instead of going back to the loft- knowing that it held far too many memories for him, and none of the peacefull sort

Now it was the next day, the two of them were sitting with Lydia in the kitchen and none of them quite knew what to do

"But this is still a serious issue, this is obviously not just some sort of coincidence, don't you think Scott and the others should know?"

"Not until we have something more concrete," Stiles insisted quietly

"He's right, Malia is in summer school, Scott is trying to get some extra credits before college, and Liam and the others... they just need a break," Lydia agreed

Derek looked down, clearly not in the position to argue

"So at what point do you want to tell them then?"

"When we have something we can put a name on," Stiles suggested with a shrug

He knew that the recently turned Alpha wouldn't like that, but as of now, it was all they had

"And you don't have ANYTHING that you can remember? At all?"

"No, it's just... just flashes of all kinds of other crap," Stiles sighed back, leaning back in his chair and wrinkling his nose with frustration

"And you don't remember anything specific from these flashes?"

Stiles was quiet for a moment, thinking that over but....

"No, no I just... I'm drawing an absolute blank here,"

"Lydia?" Derek asked hopefully

Lydia was quiet for a few moments, thinking it over for what felt like ages before she slowly glanced back up at him

"Butterflies," she said after a moment

"I remember... there were butterflies, swarms of them, in all of my dreams, flashes..."

"Yeah... yeah I remember that too I think," Stiles said suddenly

"Do you remember what kind of butterflies they were?" Derek asked urgently

They were both quiet for a few moments, before finally answering in unison

"Monarchs,"

Derek was quiet for a few moments, eyes narrowed and lips pressed into a thin line

"Anything?" Stiles asked hopefully

Derek heaved a sigh, slowly shaking his head

"No, unfortunately, I have no idea what a monarch butterfly would be doing in your dreams, I can't think of any symbolism that it might represent either,"

"Great," Stiles grumbled, rubbing his temples in frustration

"Sorry," Derek apologized, shoulders sagging

"Don't worry about it, you're not doing any worse than we are," Stiles sighed back

"I feel like we need to be doing something," Lydia said quietly

She never did well with just sitting still, none of them did as a matter of fact, so this frustrating issue of not knowing what to do- not even knowing where to start- was beginning to grate on all of their nerves

"Why did it only affect us?" Stiles asked suddenly

Derek glanced up, eyebrows raised

"I mean, ok, Lydia makes sense, she's a banshee, but what about us? No one else is having these nightmares that we know of, Derek isn't even TECHNICALLY having the nightmares, he was just... intuitively drawn back here, but it's still weird isn't it?"

"I can't believe I'm saying this but you actually have a point, it's ... strange, Stiles shouldn't have any connection to me that would warrant us to have the same dreams, and if it's not a matter of us being connected, but us both being connected to the same source, then what source would that be? And how would it connect to you?"

"Who says it is? Maybe I'm just being intuitive," Derek shrugged back

"But you weren't 'intuitive' the last two or three times something tried to destroy the town so what's different now?" Stiles pointed out

Derek seemed to be in agreement with that, given that he didn't argue this time

"So what's the connection?" Lydia repeated, this time a little more insistent, a little more... excited, like she was really onto something

Stiles was quiet for a few moments, eyes cast down in thought

"The ice baths," he concluded after a few moments

"When we did that ice bath ritual... over a year ago, remember? You were my anchor when I went under, maybe...? Weren't you the one who opened that portal to get me back from the Wild Hunt too?"

"Maybe," Lydia said quietly

"Maybe Lydia is the one all of this is revolving around, correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't she been a major focus lately? Banshees are connected to the Wild Hunt, she was sought out by the Dread Doctors, and she was one of the key players in stopping the Benefactor too," Derek pointed out

"So you think it's Lydia's show and the rest of us are just side acts, basically," Stiles concluded

"Something like that,"

"So who else has a connection to you on a spiritual level?"

Things were quiet for a beat, then for another, before they both came to the same conclusion

"Parrish,"

 

~+~

 

"Weird dreams?"

"Nightmares specifically," Stiles clarified

"No more than usual," he shrugged back with a slight wince

"And you usually have nightmares?"

"Frequently," he added with a cringe

"I'm sorry guys, I wish I could be of more help,"

Stiles bit down on the tip of his tongue in frustration, nose wrinkling and huffing an annoyed breath

This was their ONE lead, the ONE thing that might give them a chance of figuring this crap out and he was NOT about to just let it slide under the radar

"Ok, the nightmares you've had recently, have any of them contained any butterflies?"

Parrish looked about as knowledgeable about that as a cat looked about foreign films

"Butterflies...?"

"Yes, butterflies, specifically Monarchs but any will do really, THINK Parrish,"

"Um...."

As the two were "conversing" (really, it was more of an interrogation that edged slightly towards mild bullying) Derek happened to glance over his shoulder, wondering in the back of his mind what Lydia was thinking about all of this, when he noticed something...

Lydia was gone

Without so much as a word to Stiles, he took off, sprinting anxiously towards the exit of the police station and trying to search out her scent

He finally found it, but once he did, he found a truly horrifying sight

He found Lydia alright.... walking straight into oncoming traffic....

"LYDIA!!!"

He sprinted forward, suddenly grabbing her by the arm and flipping himself backwards to keep her away from the cars

The sidewalk was hard on his back, jostling him and causing pain to radiate from his shoulders all the way down to his tailbone, but atleast Lydia was safe

"Derek? What are you doing?" she asked, as if nothing was wrong, as if she HADN'T just wandered out into traffic...

Derek swallowed tightly, anxiety rolling off of him in waves as he stared down at her

All of a sudden, things had just gone from bad to worse...

 

~+~

 

"I don't remember going outside at all," Lydia said quietly, staring down at her cup of tea

"What DO you remember?" Stiles challenged

"You and Parrish were talking... I heard your father call me so I went to see him, but I didn't go outside, I just went to the other side of the station..."

"Lydia... my dad isn't even here right now, he went to pick up lunch for everyone about thirty minutes ago," Stiles said slowly

"But I... I heard him," she argued quietly, only half-heartedly, eyebrows narrowed and lips pressed into a thin line

"I promise that you didn't," Stiles insisted

Things went quiet for a few moments, not so much because no one knew what to say but... more because no one wanted to say it

And then, finally, Derek decided to he had to speak- if no one else would, it might as well be him

"I think this is the point where we need to tell Scott and the others,"

 

~+~

 

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

The hurt in Scott's voice was enough to make Stiles wince, guilt creeping through every vein as he grimmaced at the Alpha

"What were we going to say? 'We're having weird nightmares about butterflies and also Derek is back'?"

Scott seemed hesitant after that, face pinching with confusion as his shoulders sagged

"Well.... yeah,"

"Scott, come on," Stiles huffed back skeptically

"So what do we ACTUALLY know?" Malia interrupted, preventing the mini argument from escalating any further

"Not much," Lydia answered with a miserable sigh

"What happened when you ... you know, zoned out?" Stiles questioned

"Nothing, nothing unusual, it didn't feel like a dream or a vision or anything, just... it was just so real..." she insisted with a frustrated sigh

Stiles pressed his lips into a thin line, about to speak up when his ears suddenly began to ring

It was a low but sharp sound, a steady sort of thing that advanced gradually, getting louder and louder, and made him shake his head to try to ward it off somehow, but just as quickly as it had begun, it stopped

Nothing to worry about though, ringing ears like that happened all the time, he wasn't really sure why but... it did, nothing to worry about

Lydia started speaking again, but barely a few words into her sentence, a clawed hand suddenly peirced through her chest

Stiles screamed, jumping up and watching as everyone else rushed towards the owner of the hand, and when he followed the line from the claws up to the face... he felt nothing but pure rage boiling in his blood

_"Theo...!!!"_

"Hello Stiles, it's been a wile," the chimera smirked

Stiles rushed forward, only to be shoved back into the wall and watch in horror as Theo took Malia by the neck and shoved her to the ground, stepping on her back and twisting until there was a sickening pop of her skull dislocating from her spine

Stiles screamed again, screamed and wondered how the hell no one had noticed that monster before, wondered why they were all moving so slowly in comparison, why no one was doing anything yet

He rushed back to his feet, watching in stunned terror as Scott and Derek both rushed at Theo and the chimera kicked Derek away, turning and jamming his claws through Scott's eyes before slashing his throat

Stiles thought he'd go deaf from his own screams, running forward as Theo turned to Derek next and, although the new Alpha tried to get to him, he was easily slammed down on the floor, the poker by the fireplace picked up and the hook jammed straight through Derek's chest

Stiles was seeing red, jumping onto Theo's back and wrestling him to the floor, he punched him square in the face, screaming and screaming, louder and louder, before grabbing the lamp off of the night stand and aiming it for Theo's head

But Theo just smirked, a slow and sickening smirk, laughing boisterously as he easily shoved Stiles off of him and stood over him, about to conduct the finishing blow, Stiles fought back, he struggled and struggled, and then-

**"STILES!!!"**

Stiles blinked, panting and swallowing tightly as he looked around

Derek was on top of him, punning him down

Scott was across the room staring at him in fear and wiping at his bloody nose

Everyone else was standing around looking confused and panicked and Theo....

Theo was nowhere to be found

"What... what the hell happened?" he asked quietly, swallowing tightly as he glanced around the room

"You attacked Scott," Malia replied quickly, crossing her arms over her chest and staring down at the floor

"What? No! No I... I ... Theo...."

"You saw Theo?" Scott asked slowly, rising to his feet and taking a step closer

"I... he killed all of you, wich... obviously he didn't but... but I swear-..... Scott I'm so sorry..."

"It's ok, it wasn't your fault," Scott shrugged back as Stiles slowly rose to his feet and wrapped his freind in a tight, apologetic hug

"Stiles, what happened when you zoned out?" Lydia asked slowly

"Nothing, nothing, I was just... sitting here, listening to you guys talk and then my ears started ringing, next thing I know Theo is here killing everybody,"

"Wait... your ears started ringing?" Lydia frowned

"So did mine, when I zoned out at the police station, I... I didn't make anything of it but-"

"Neither did I," Stiles interrupted

"So we have a lead then, ringing in the ears," Scott concluded

"Well what do we do with it? We can't just make people stop hearing," Malia frowned

"No... but we could block out the sound," Derek noted

"How would we do that?"

"With earbuds and headphones," Lydia suggested

"We can't just... walk around with headphones on all day though, who knows how long this is going to take for us to fix," Scott pointed out

"It's all we can do as of now, and we have to do SOMETHING, the next time someone goes through this it may not end as well," Derek argued

"But we can't go through life with our ears covered- literally," Scott frowned

"We shouldn't go about life as usual anyway though, someone could get hurt," Stiles pointed out

"Agreed, I think we all need to stick together until this is figured out, in the past the worst has always happened when we were apart," Derek agreed

"We can't do that, Malia and I have classes," Scott frowned again

"And my parents wouldn't exactly let me have an extended sleepover party with a bunch of people they don't know," Liam pointed out

"Mine wouldn't either... but I'm with Stiles and Derek, we can't just go around acting like nothing is wrong," Mason said slowly

"And what? Ignore everything and everyone else? We can't do that either," Hayden argued

"I'm with Mason," Corey volunteered

"And I'm with Scott," Malia insisted

"Look," Lydia interrupted suddenly

"It's clear we all have different opinions on this but... so far Stiles and I are the only ones who are having ... symptoms ... for sure, we'll stay here with Derek, keep our ears covered, and if anyone else starts having ANYTHING- visions, nightmares, ringing in the ears... _anything_... they come and stay here too,"

"I can agree to that," Scott said slowly

"And no one is alone," Derek added

"Everyone needs to stay with a partner,"

"We can't do that all the time though... there's no way our parents would let us," Liam frowned

"Scott and I can stick together during the day, we'll come back here at night," Malia suggested

"Corey and Mason can spend the days together and .. Liam and I can spend the days together, hopefully at night we won't need it," Hayden added

"Night is when you'll need this most, this thing, whatever it is, is causing nightmares, doesn't it make sense that it'll strike, you know, at NIGHT?" Stiles huffed

"It hasn't so far though... so far it's just been in the day," Scott noted slowly

"But it's only a matter of time, we need to do SOMETHING," Stiles insisted

"We'll cover our ears," Mason suggested slowly, all attention turning towards him

"We'll have our partners during the day, and cover our ears at night, I mean... if it's too late for our freinds to be visiting then it's too late for us to be doing anything that we can't wear headphones during right?"

"Yeah.... yeah, my parents will buy that, I think," Corey said slowly

"Then it's settled," Scott agreed with a quick nod of his head

"Just one last thing," Lydia noted

"Parrish, we need to keep an eye on him,"

"My dad is already watching him," Stiles added

"I can talk to my sister about it too," Hayden promised

"Alright.... alright, then it's settled," Derek said with a shaking breath

"Yeah," Stiles agreed slowly

"For now atleast,"

 

~+~

 

For the last three hours, Stiles, Lydia, and Derek had had their noses buried in research

Derek had his eyes on a thick, old book, wile Stiles and Lydia were both working on their laptops

Stiles was starting to get restless if he was being honest, frustrated in his lack of progress and his constant sitting

Luckily, only a moment later, he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder and jerked his head up, heart leaping from startled surprise as he stared up at Derek's face

He took his earbuds out a second later, eyebrows raising curiously at him

"You up for a pizza?"

Now THAT perked Stiles up

"Oh hell yeah,"

"What toppings?"

"Just pepperoni for me, we should ask Lydia though,"

"Right," Derek nodded, leaning over and gently tapping Lydia on the shoulder

The banshee jumped, giving a slight scream as she wipped around and glared daggers at the boys

"A little warning would be nice," she frowned, taking her earbuds out as well

"Sorry, we're ordering a pizza, what do you like on it?"

Lydia was quiet for a moment, thinking it over

"Mmm... mushrooms, peppers, olives, pepperoni..."

"So, everything?" Stiles interrupted

"No pineapple," she shrugged back, reaching for her ear buds

Unfortunately, before she could, Stiles caught what she was listening to

_"I can't stop this feelin', deep inside of me,"_

"Oh my God... are you listening to the Guardians Of The Galaxy soundtrack?" he beamed

 _"No,"_ Lydia scoffed back

"Stiles, JUST because I happen to have that song does NOT mean-"

"You are SO listening to the Guardians soundtrack!" he laughed enthusiastically

"Stiles-"

"Ooga chakka, ooga chakka," he grinned

Admittedly, maybe it was the combination of a lack of sleep and the frustration of having spent so much time in the same spot doing the same monotonous thing, but he suddenly found himself unable to quit singing, trying to goad Lydia and Derek on to do it as well

"I can't stop this feelin'! Deep inside of me," he sang- badly, and off key- tugging desperately on Lydia's arm

She shook her head, keeping her mouth tightly shut, but she was trying hard to suppress a smile so he knew she wasn't _too_ seriously annoyed

"Come on I don't even remember the next line!" he laughed encouragingly

And then, to his utter and absolute shock-

"Girl you just don't realize, what you do to me," Derek added shyly

"When you hold me in your arms so tight, you let me know everything's alright,"

"Oh my God!" Stiles cackled, bouncing up and clapping excitedly, reaching out to take Lydia's laptop away from her

"Iiiiiii'm hooked on a feelin'!" he shouted, yanking the banshee up from the couch

"I'm high on believin'," Derek added as he stood up and took Stiles' free hand

They both stared expectingly at Lydia, and after a few tense seconds of trying- and failing- not to laugh, she finally gave in

"That you're in love with me!" she relented

Stiles honestly couldn't remember the last time he had laughed or smiled so hard, it was... God it felt good, foreign, like an alien action to his body, but it ... it was good all the same

He immediately reached for Lydia's iPod, taking the earbuds out and turning the volume up

He knew they had long since missed "Hooked On A Feeling", but luckily, there were no bad songs on this album and even though Stiles couldn't remember half of them he could still sing atleast the choruses of most of them

_"When I die and they lay me to rest, gonna go to the place that's the best, goin' up to the spirit in the sky,"_

He knew that they really did need to get back to researching, but... hell, he could only take so much at a time, anyone could only take so much at a time, and he needed a break before his eyes went cross, he knew Lydia and Derek needed the same

And if they had to keep their ears busy anyway....

He moved to push the coffee out of the way, taking Lydia's hand and swaying his hips jokingly as he pulled her out into the middle of the floor

_"Never been a sinner, I never sinned, I got a freind in a man named Jesus, he's gonna set me up with the spirit in the sky,"_

"Oh set me up with the spirit in the sky!" Stiles shouted, spinning Lydia as she gave another laugh, grinning from ear to ear

"You. Are. CRAZY!" she shouted over the blaring music

"I know!!" he shouted back

There was definitely no way that there would be any ear-ringing at this point, the music was far too loud

He paused just as the song was ending, looking over his shoulder to find Derek gone, his smile faltered for a moment, his heart clenching with anxiety as he left Lydia alone in the living room for a moment, taking a few steps towards the kitchen and feeling a wave of releif hit him when he saw Derek searching through the kitchen drawers

"Are you looking for something?" he asked playfully, leaning against the entryway

"Don't you guys have a pizza number somewhere around here?"

"Um, no, that's what cell phones are for dude,"

Derek just snorted, face puffing out like an annoyed dog, wich just made Stiles laugh as he took the werewolf's hand and started dragging him to the living room

"Come on, we'll order pizza in ten minutes, I promise, just... hell, just let us have ten minutes,"

Derek's face warmed slightly into something a little softer, allowing Stiles to tug him into the living room and force him into a three-way dance between Stiles and Lydia

God, he had forgotten how incredible it was just to be near Derek

Sure he had missed him, pined for him, been desperate to be with him again but...

With so many of their encounters being high-stress, life-or-death, panic and anxiety and blood and tears...

He had forgotten those few bright, shiny moments where Derek just _was_

And seeing him like this again, it was incredible, being able to spend this small moment with him again was incredible, a momentary break from all of the fear and upset from the last several days...

He knew that Derek had a life though now, a life outside of Beacon Hills, a life outside of _them_

And he'd probably go back to that life when this was all over, but...

But if Stiles could just have this one memory to keep... just this one...

"OH! Turn it up!! I love this one!"

"No way, sensitive werewolf ears remember? It's loud enough," Derek huffed back

_"I must have been through about a million girls, I'd love 'em and I'd leave 'em alone,"_

"Don't be such a sourwolf," Stiles snorted back, wrapping his arms around Derek's neck and swaying from side to side for a moment before letting one arm drop, reaching out and pulling Lydia into a spin, twirling her again with one hand as he kept the other firmly locked to the back of Derek's neck, both of Derek's arms around his waist

It felt .... amazing

It felt like it should be

"Screw ten minutes, I'm ordering that pizza," Lydia insisted as she grabbed her phone from the table and headed into the kitchen

Stiles just snorted, actually kind of surprised at himself that he was actually turning down food for something else- though to be honest, lately, he hadn't felt much like eating, he hadn't in a long time really- but this was just too precious to miss a second of

_"I fooled around and fell in love,"_

"I fooled around and fell in love," Stiles echoed, both arms around Derek now as they swayed around the living room

"Stiles?"

"Hm?"

"Please don't quit your day job,"

Stiles faked offense at that, mouth open and sputtering

"Excuse you! I am a karaoke genius!"

"This is not karaoke and you are not a genius," Derek challenged flatly

"Ok, ok, well, just for that, I'm going to dance on your feet," he threatened, taking a step closer as Derek immediately stepped back

"HELL no,"

"Why!? Are you saying I'm heavy?"

"I'm saying you're as tall as I am and more muscular than you think- absolutely NOT,"

"You are SO cruel to me," Stiles pouted

_"Ah but since I met you baby, love's got a hold on me,"_

Somehow, they were alternating between laughing and exchanging the same longing, warm looks, like...

Like somehow Derek was feeling what Stiles was feeling...

"Someone's outside," Derek noted suddenly, seconds before the doorbell rang

"Really? I wonder if the pizza guy is just super early..."

"Lydia hasn't even hung up yet, she's been on hold," Derek frowned back

Stiles frowned a little more, tilting his head as he let go of the werewolf and headed over to the front door, swinging it open and staring at the person in front of him in shock

"Mason?"

Hardly a second later, there was a click, then the blasting loud sound of a gunshot ringing through the house

Derek went pale, rushing into the hall and skidding to a halt in front of the door, where Stiles lay, covered in blood, with a hole in his chest

"STILES!!!!"

Lydia, having heard the shot, came running as well, screaming in horror upon the sight as she dropped the phone on the floor

"Stiles!!! Stiles!" Derek shouted as he took the other's hand, shaking his shoulder and immediately turning to look at the banshee

"Call 911!! Hurry!!"

She didn't waste time, dropping to the floor to grab the phone and noticing out of the corner of her eye as Mason suddenly fell to the ground as well, beginning to shout in horror himself, clearly not having been of the right mind when he pulled the trigger

"Stiles!! Stiles you're going to be ok, I swear it, you're going to be alright, just hang on!"

Among the screaming, the shouting, the horrible sound of the call waiting to connect, the song was just about to end

_"Fooled around, fooled around, fooled around, I fell in love, yes I did,"_

 

~+~

 

Everything was silent

Eerily silent

They had been at the hospital for what felt like hours, even though Derek knew that it had only been about fourty-five minutes

Nearly everyone was there at this point, and not one of them had anything to say

Mason had, in fact, been under the control of whatever the hell this was when he shot Stiles

He was torn up about it too, buried in Corey's shoulder, had hardly stopped crying since they got here, and Derek...

Derek could see how on edge everyone was, almost as if they were taking sides

Liam, Hayden, and Corey were all incredibly defensive, sitting in a tight line with Mason at the center

Malia, Scott, and the sheriff were on the opposite side, practically dripping with frustration, anger, and anxiety

Derek didn't know if they really blamed Mason or not, but he had a feeling that there was some resentment there, buried down deep, and that made him ache

As much as he loved Stiles- and he did, he really and truly did- he knew it wasn't Mason's fault, but...

Between Malia's feirce over-protectiveness, and Scott and the sheriff's intense bias, he wondered if they really knew that too

He and Lydia, in the mean time, were in the middle, both anxious and too exhausted to be angry

The second the sound of Melissa's heartbeat rounded the corner, Derek was on his feet, with the other wolves close behind

"Well?" the sheriff asked urgently

Melissa looked.... grim.... and Derek felt himself choking just at that alone

"He isn't looking good," Melissa said quietly

And if it was possible for things to somehow get even more quiet... they did

"I'm sorry... but ... he's in the ICU right now, he's alive, he's stable... for now, but ... I have to be honest with you, it really isn't looking good, we're doing everything we can, I promise,"

And just like that, she was gone again, taking their hopes and desperation and desires with her

Things were silent for a wile longer, eerily, ghostly silent, before finally Malia spoke up, her "request" directed at Scott

"You need to bite him,"

Scott's head wipped around so fast that Derek was surprised it didn't snap off of his neck completely

"What?"

"I SAID, you need to bite him,"

"Malia..."

"I'm serious Scott! Bite him! It could be his only chance!"

"And what if it isn't? What if it kills him!?"

"He's probably going to die without it! Scott you can't just-"

"The risk is too big, if I bite him and he dies-"

"He'll probably die anyway! Scott you have to try!"

"I'll try, Malia, but... not until things get really dire, not until there's no other option-"

"Things ARE dire Scott!! What are you going to do? Wait until the very last second?! The bite won't take if you wait too long!"

"Everyone just BE. QUIET!" the sheriff shouted

And for once, they all actually listened

"My SON is dieing, and if anyone is going to be making any decisions about what to do with that... it's going to be me,"

Everyone was utterly silent, waiting on the older man to give an order or ... or do something himself

"Scott, could biting him save my son?"

Scott gave a timid, quiet nod, looking down at the ground

"And if it doesn't work?"

"He'll die," Scott replied quietly

The sheriff was quiet for a few moments, staring at the floor before asking another question

"Is there... anything else? Any other solution that might ... work?"

"None that we know of," Lydia answered softly

Things went quiet again for a long, tense moment before the sheriff gave a slight nod

"Alright... alright, if it's the only way... then I agree with Malia,"

Before Scott- or anyone else- had the chance to say anything, the sound of running down the hall echoed through the hospital, and everyone turned to see who it was

"Scott!!! What's going on!?"

_"Kira!!"_

Scott was up in an instant, rushing to hug his girlfreind as tightly as he could, and for her credit, Kira wasn't exactly gentle with her greeting either

"What's going on? Why is everyone here?"

"Stiles....Stiles was shot,"

"What!? How!? What happened!?"

"It's a long story but I... how are you here? I thought-"

"I finished training with the skinwalkers, I was on my way home and had this ... weird... eerie feeling like something was wrong so I came here instead, I saw your bike outside and asked the nurse..."

"That's what happened to Derek too," Scott said quietly

"Derek's here?"

Scott blinked in confusion at the question, looking over his shoulder and feeling the blood rush out of his face as he realized that Derek, at some point, had left

"Where did he go....?"

 

~+~

 

Seeing Stiles like this, covered in wires and tubes and machines, the sounds of beeping and buzzing and ... everything... all around him...

It was sickening, it made Derek want to break down and cry

But he couldn't do that, he had to be strong

He had to be strong and do this himself, because Scott....

He couldn't let this responsibility fall on Scott's shoulders

Scott had already lost one loved one in his arms and Derek wasn't going to let him lose a second, he wasn't going to let Scott go through the agony of accidentally killing someone he loves...

So he was going to take on the risk- and if it goes badly, the burden- himself, and pray for the best

He took a shaking breath, fighting back tears as he lifted Stiles' wrist to his mouth, opening his mouth, letting his fangs drop... and biting down as gently as he could

 

~+~

 

"What's the matter with you!?"

Derek grunted as his head slammed against the wall of the hospital, wincing and staring down at the pure, unbridled rage stained against Scott's features

"I did what I had to do..."

"What you had to do!? You did what you WANTED to do!!! Because of you, Stiles is going to be YOUR beta now! What were you thinking!?"

"I was thinking I didn't want you to go through what I did! I didn't want you to feel guilty if the bite didn't take! Besides, we all know Stiles will be your beta, he always has been, you can't think that just because I bit him that will suddenly change,"

"Why didn't you atleast say something first!?"

"Because I didn't think we had that kind of time! The longer we waited the worse our chances would have been!"

"Derek-!!"

"ENOUGH!"

Both Alphas turned, staring in shock as Stiles walked towards them, completely healed, and looking strangely strong, utterly determined

Scott slowly stepped back, releasing his grip on Derek as the other wolf adjusted himself on his feet

"Stiles.." Scott breathed

But that was the only word spoken, everyone else was utterly silent and completely on edge, waiting for ... something

For some insight as to Stiles' state of mind, this... new Stiles, so to speak

They didn't have to wait long

Stiles took a step forward, a look of anxiety clearly present on his face as he stared at the two werewolves in front of him

"Something is wrong," he said quietly

"What? What's wrong?" Scott asked urgently

Stiles swallowed, taking a shaking breath and bowing his head before looking up again, eyes now a bright, vibrant violet

"I don't think I'm a werewolf,"

 

~+~

 

"A raven?"

"I think so, atleast... according to what little I know about them, the eye color, the powers you had before this, even the visions, it all fits, most likely the bite I gave you just woke your powers up all the way, they were already stirring beforehand," Derek noted

"So... like what happened to me after Peter..." Lydia said slowly

"Right, except that Stiles was already starting to awaken his powers before the bite, he's just more full-fledged now, like a finished transformation,"

"As much as I seriously want to continue figuring out this cool new species thing, I think we have a more pressing matter at hand,"

"Lydia told me what happened," Kira interrupted, taking a step forward

"I think... my mom might be able to help, I don't know for sure but she usually knows all kinds of things about the supernatural, especially when it comes to things that affect dreams or change reality in some way,"

Stiles glanced between Scott and Derek before turning his attention back to Kira, giving a slow nod of approval

"Then we'll have to talk to her, but first... I think I have an idea of what we're dealing with, or atleast... what it looks like,"

Everyone turned pale, a shared sense of anxiety and amazement overcoming the group as they stared at the recently turned raven

"Really? What makes you say that?" Lydia finally asked

"Well... I had another dream wile I was out, at first it was just more of the same but then I saw something different," he explained, moving towards one of the chairs and glancing towards the reception desk

"Anybody got a pen and papper?"

Derek didn't hesitate, moving towards the empty desk and grabbing a pen and one of the clipboards of admission forms, handing them to Stiles and taking an anxious step back

Stiles licked his lips, turning the first page over and starting to sketch out the thing he had seen in his nightmare

"It looks kinda like this," he replied, turning the clipboard around to show everyone

Lydia took a step forward, mouth pressing into a thin line and eyes narrowing as she stared at the drawing

"Stiles that looks like nothing,"

Stiles blinked, turning the board around again to look at it and pouting

Sure it wasn't the BEST looking drawing but.....

Oh who was he kidding? It was a bunch of squiggles

"Here, let me try, can you describe it to me?" the banshee asked, snatching the clipboard and the pen before turning over one of the other forms

"Um... it looks kinda like the berserker masks but it has hair and white eyeballs and I think it might have ears..."

Lydia just stared at him, the way she had stared at him a few weeks ago when he tried to explain the different Jokers theory to her...

IE: Unimpressed and mildly frustrated

"Oh!! Did it look anything like this!?" Kira asked excitedly as she shoved her cell phone in Stiles' face

"What the... did ... did you just have this on your phone for no reason...?"

"I was going to paint it last year before the kitsune stuff really started up, it's from a horror movie from aaaages ago, I thought I recognized your description!"

The resemblance was utterly uncanny

"Kira, you continue to frighten me, I'm so glad to see that hasn't changed,"

"Let me see that," the sheriff frowned, taking a step closer to peer over Kira's shoulder and narrowing his eyes

"I've seen that before..."

"Probably, it was a pretty popular movie back in the eighties," Kira shrugged

"No I mean.... I've SEEN it, it was part of a murder case that happened here a few decades ago,"

"What happened?" Stiles frowned back

"These stupid kids... a bunch of 'em formed some freaking cult, all of 'em wore masks like that one, they murdered this poor little girl, I think she was about twelve... maybe thirteen, killed her out in the woods, said it was some kind of sacrifice or some crap..."

"What happened to them after that?"

"Cowards hung themselves in their cells the night after they confessed, the girl's family never got closure,"

"So... what does that have to do with this thing that we're dealing with now?" Scott frowned

"No idea," Stiles sighed, rolling his shoulders

"But we're about to find out,"

 

~+~

 

"It sounds like what you're dealing with are Hollows,"

"You mean like that thing from Bleach?"

As he looked over the rest of the group and how clearly unamused they were, Stiles realized that that was decidedly NOT what Noshiko meant

"What? I can't watch anime?" he frowned

"Hollows are a kind of unseelie faery," she began, completely jumping over Stiles' comment

"They're formed from pseudo sacrifices at sacred places, thus making them very rare,"

"Sacred places.... let me guess, nemeton?" Stiles asked with a tired, frustrated sigh

The look on Noshiko's face answered his question for him

"I swear to God I need to burn down that stupid stump," Stiles groaned

"A pseudo sacrifice? So... would killing a little girl and calling it a sacrifice count for that?" Lydia asked

"That would count yes, I take it you're asking for a specific reason?"

"There was an incident back in the eighties involving a cult and a little girl's murder out in the woods, if it took place on the nemeton..."

"She was likely a faery child and the faeries watching over her cursed her killers to become Hollows,"

"But if this was something from the eighties, why is it only bothering us now?" Lydia asked with confusion

"Most likely they were contained before now, much like the nogitsune, something must have come along to release them, that may have been why the Hunt came here in the first place, to prevent the Hollows from taking over the town, and when they were fought off-"

"These things got full reign.... hell...." Stiles sighed

"Essentially,"

"So how do we get rid of them?" Malia asked immediately

"Well, in theory you could just reseal them back into the nemeton, but doing so is dangerous, it would require an Alpha to step into the memories of someone who had dreamt of the Hollows,"

"What about permanently?" Malia pressed further

"Permanently... would be difficult, but not impossible, you have a unique opportunity here, having a banshee, a raven, and a hellhound in one place, such a thing almost never happens,"

"So how would we do it?"

"You would have to travel to the sacred place that this affected- in this case, the nemeton, for this to work the timing must truly be impeccable, wich is why you'll need all three of you present, the raven will need to fall asleep, preferably on or near the nemeton, the banshee will be able to tell when the Hollows enter his dreams and at that point will help the hellhound to open a portal into the raven's dreams, from there the raven will need to wake up as quickly as possible, wich will force the Hollows through the portal and back into this realm, this will make them just as vulnerable as any other living creature and thus quite easy to kill,"

Stiles looked like he was about to start screaming, wich he very well might have been

"Am I the only one finding this thing outrageously convoluted? I mean it's like a bad fanfiction writer who started out with a good idea and then got frustrated and gave up half-way through,"

"Wasn't your last enemy a nazi werewolf-werelion hybrid?" Noshiko pointed out

"Wait, what?"

Ah yes... so Scott HADN'T filled Kira in on the goings-on yet...

"Ok that... that's a point but still! Why do these things invade dreams anyway? Are they spirits? Are they creatures? Do they use possession, mind control, bad kool-aid?"

"Calm down Stiles, one thing at a time," Noshiko said slowly

"Hollows are created by faeries, yes, but as I mentioned earlier, they must have done something truly unforgiveable first, making a false sacrifice at a sacred place conducts negative energy all around those who committed the act, usually that energy wouldn't be able to do much more than create ghosts and vindictive spirits after the murderers die, but because the Fae Folk were angry enough to curse these humans, they became something that borders between spirits and living creatures, not dead enough to truly be ghosts, but certainly not alive enough to be living, they walk on an in-between plane- a realm often delegated to dreams, because you and Lydia are so heavily connected to other realms- acting as... bridges, you might say, between life and death, between dreams and reality, between present and future and so on and so forth- you're the only ones who were able to channel them, make no mistake, they've been gathering power for a long time and would have made their move sooner or later, but because the two of you are so prone to otherworld activity-"

"It was sooner," Stiles concluded

"Correct, the others simply aren't as finely tuned as the two of you are, though as you can see, just because the others aren't having dreams it doesn't mean they don't feel the malevolent energy afoot, why else would Derek and Kira have come back? Beacon Hills is a hellmouth, it's an extremely toxic place as you know, wich is likely why none of _us_ \- who still live in Beacon Hills- have noticed the shift in the atmosphere, the Wild Hunt only left a few months ago, I'd be willing to bet if we weren't all still recovering from the negative impact they left behind, we would have noticed sooner that something was wrong,"

"Alright, so if it's Lydia and I being connected to other realms, why did Mason get possessed?"

"It isn't possession Stiles, not like the nogitsune, not like what you're thinking, it's an alteration of your perception, your's and Lydia's minds are very delicate because of how much information you receive, and because you're tuned in to other channels besides the one most people are tuned into, what you experienced wasn't a possession but more... a waking dream, the Hollows were able to access you in the waking world as easily as the dream world, that's all, as for Mason, what were you doing before you blacked out?"

Mason, having been addressed for the first time during all of this, looked up from where he had been leaning against Corey's shoulders

"I was listening to a podcast about unexplained events, it had all kinds of things in there but .. the last one I remember hearing was that Cicada thing, you know, the recruitment group that put out all those puzzles a few years ago?"

Stiles gave a nod of recognition, eyes flicking down breifly before turning his attention back to Noshiko

"And when you were listening to that podcast, would you say you were fully awake? Tired?"

"Falling asleep actually, I was trying to make it to the end but it was hard,"

"Then you were in that fuzzy in-between state, not quite asleep but not fully awake either,"

"Yeah... yeah that's a good description,"

"Your mind was vulnerable then, and more open than it usually is, the Hollows must have sought out other, more open minds and found your's available,"

"What about the butterflies? Why were Lydia and I seeing butterflies in our dreams?" Stiles frowned

"Butterflies are a symbol of death in many cultures, particularly large groups of them, anyone with mild psychic abilities may often associate the coming of a tragedy or death with butterflies,"

"And," the sheriff mentioned suddenly

"The cult I mentioned.... they called themselves 'Monarch',"

Well that explained that...

"What do these things want?" Stiles finally asked

"To be alive again, beyond that I don't know, nor do I WANT to know, but if they were to invade the dreams of enough people, they power they'd gather would be intense enough to materialize in this world, but keep the powers they have in the dream realm, if you bring them here now they'll be much like they were as humans, the largest difference will be their physical appearances, but if you wait and let them come on their own, they'll bring their powers with them,"

"So for once we have the opportunity to nip this thing in the bud before it gets out of hand?"

"That's right,"

Stiles took a long, deep breath, bowing his head respectfully to Noshiko before standing up

"I guess we'd better take it wile we can then huh?"

 

~+~

 

"How exactly am I supposed to know when the nightmares start again?"

Because THAT was exactly the kind of question Stiles loved hearing as he laid down in the woods to do this stupid thing

"Mom said banshees should be able to channel that sort of thing, especially when it comes to others who are in tune with death, like ravens and hellhounds, supposedly you have a connection," Kira offered

"Right.... ok," Lydia breathed quietly

"Stiles, are you sure you're ok with this?" Scott asked anxiously

"Do you have a better idea?"

It wasn't meant as a biting or frustrated comment, just a general question

"No...."

"Then I sort of have to be, but it's fine, Scott, it's ok, I'll be fine,"

Scott seemed unconvinced, but he knew that there wasn't much he could do about it, so he stepped away, attention turning towards Parrish and Lydia as they finished everything Noshiko said they would need in preparation for this excursion

"I'll be fine," Stiles insisted again, shifting slightly on the ground and slowly closing his eyes

"Wake me up when September ends,"

"Just try to sleep Stiles," Derek snorted from the background

And for once, Stiles didn't find that to be such a difficult request to follow

He was having a much easier time falling asleep the past few days, despite the fact that he was usually highly insomniatic, but he just chalked it up to these Hollows and their abilities, even though he had to admit, in the back of his mind, that he did feel unusually better now

Better than he had felt in ages actually....

He wondered if it had anything to do with finally having his powers awakened

Or maybe that Derek was finally back in his life

Hell, maybe even both...

But it didn't matter, the point was, that he had fallen asleep like he needed to, and now all that was left was to wait

The dream started out pretty much as they always did, with weird, scrambled flashes before his eyes, then came the butterflies, freckled out in bits and peices all over the place, and then....

Then the freaking masks again

They were terrifying, all bone and stark white against jet black hair.. and Stiles didn't know what to do with it

He didn't know what to do in this situation

Shouldn't Lydia be waking him up by now?

Maybe he should call out to her, try to speed this along a little

"L-Lydia!!" he called out, heart starting to race as he stare at the creatures approaching

"Lydia!! Lydia they're here!!"

When one of them stepped closer and tore off it's mask, Stiles practically shattered his own ears from screaming, and he suddenly wished the mask had stayed on

The creatures had solid black eyes, completely vacant, to the point that he wondered if it even had eyes at all, and the mouth.... oh God the mouth.....

It was huge, as if the jaw was practically unhinged, totally vacant, gaping open with two rows of immensely sharp teeth...

**_"LYDIA!!!!"_ **

Stiles gasped, jerking up and feeling his heart pound in his chest as he stared at the person in front of him

"D-Derek...?"

"Stiles it's alright, you're ok.... you're awake now, you're ok,"

He swallowed tensely, giving a slow, timid nod and taking a shaking breath

"Are- are those...?"

Derek gave a slight nod over Stiles' shoulder and he turned around, feeling a weirdly simultaneous clench of anxiety and releif as he caught sight of everyone else already battling it out with the Hollows, wich, thankfully, didn't seem to be putting up too much of a fight

He slowly climbed to his feet, wobbling only a little and giving Derek a nod- a promise that he was ok

"Stiles, what are you-?"

"I'm ok, seriously, just needed to regain my footing here,"

"Stiles, you aren't thinking of going over there and joining the battle are you? You're new to your powers, you don't know what you're doing,"

"Yeah but it won't take much to get rid of these guys remember? Besides, after those freaking things caused me even MORE nightmare fuel that I don't need, I have some real anger issues I need to take out on them,"

Derek frowned with disapproval, but he could see the magic flittering against Stiles' fingertips, anxious and ready to go, needing to be active, to move, to release....

He understood the drive all too well

"Fine, but I'm staying right next to you the entire time, and if I say you need to leave, then LEAVE,"

"Yes Sir Alpha Sir," Stiles teased, rushing off to join the battle with Derek heaving a sigh behind him

"PLEASE don't let Scott hear you say that..."

 

~+~

 

The battle was over in record time, atleast in Stiles' opinion

Noshiko had been right, the Hollows really were (currently) powerless and easy to defeat in this realm

Ofcourse, with the battle out of the way and everyone else having decided to go home for the night and sleep- hopefully without nightmares this time- now came the hard part

Derek and Stiles were alone- by Stiles' request- having some kind of midnight .. snack.... thing... at a nearby diner and just... 

Stiles didn't know what they were doing, if he was being completely honest

They were having milkshakes, but beyond that he wasn't sure

"So.... are you going back home now? I mean, the trouble is past, danger's over, that's what you came here for right?"

It was better if he just ripped off the bandaid now, if he prolonged this any longer, it would just hurt more...

Derek seemed admittedly surprised by the question, but the surprise quickly faded, giving way to a small, sad smile

"I really should, I was... actually hoping I could get you to come with me,"

"Really?" Stiles asked in surprise, eyes wide and curious as he stared across at the other man

"I was hoping," Derek repeated with a soft smile

Stiles was quiet for a long moment, thinking it over, before letting his lips turn downwards, hanging his head slightly

"I'm sorry.... part of me wants to go, really, but... I can't... I have to stay here,"

"Your dad?" Derek guessed softly

"My dad.... and my pack, you're my Alpha, but... my pack is here, and I mean hell this... this is my TOWN... as screwed up and horrible as it may be it's mine, and I can't just run off and abandon it, I've gotta stay here and protect this thing,"

"I understand," Derek said softly

"I really do understand... but... you ARE my beta Stiles, you may not be a wolf, and you may have another Alpha, but you're STILL my beta, just like Jackson is,"

"Aw man I thought we disowned him..."

Derek's lips perked up slightly, an amused light in his eyes

"Stiles, what if I had a compromise for you?"

"A compromise?"

"What if we lived right on the town border? Just... a few inches outside of Beacon Hills, in Rose Hill, right on the town line, fifteen minutes from the sheriff's station, thirty from the school... far enough away from town that you- and my pack- won't be in the heart of danger when it hits but close enough that you can jump in and help, and see your father whenever you want, what do you think?"

Stiles was silent for a moment, mouth slightly open and eyes wide and amazed

"You... you'd really- ...? But Derek, what about your pack? They're safe now in Santa Clara, do you really want to uproot them and bring them closer to danger?"

"No but... Beacon Hills is my town too Stiles, and I never should have left it, I'm... I'm a better Alpha now than I was then, and if things look bad my pack KNOWS that I expect them to run, there are designated safe spaces and everything- safe spaces I'll be telling Scott and the others about soon, at that- but Stiles... I'm not going to live in hiding, and I'm not going to leave a member of my pack here alone, I never should have to begin with,"

Stiles felt like crying

The loyalty, protection, sincere caring... _love_ between them now... it felt so much stronger now that his powers were amplified than it used to

"Ok," he said softly, a small, shaking smile forming over his lips

"Ok, I'm in, _Alpha_ ,"

Derek smiled back, bright and warm as he leaned in, closing his eyes and pressing a little closer until he hovered just a matter of inches from Stiles' lips

"Stiles- don't call me Alpha,"

Stiles choked out a snort, grabbing Derek by the shirt and tugging him into a full fledged kiss

"Screw you Hale...."

Derek was back now... and he was here to stay


End file.
